Quote: charley rance @ December 16, 2006, 3:27 PMFeel free to correct my grammer, i may feel the need to hunt you down and shove a giant exclamation mark up your arse.
Anyhoo! A writers work is their bubba. When i want to show you a bit of my baby, i will expect fair criticism and honest remarks. you can tell me the plot is nasty and the charachters are a disgrace,however, mention my spelling & grammer god damn you, and i will claim your soul.
Mad bint alert!!!
I have never in all my days been called a Mad Bint! Aww I am just so suicidal at your cruelty.
Also what attitude, the fact that i found the grammer correcting pure evil.
Oh lighten up boys! *tsk* Why take life so seriously. Am i the only light hearted, bad attitude, *Mad Bint* here? (notice the question mark and bow to your punctu queen).
Come on guys, pleeeeeeeeeeease, go and get top shelf tottie at your local garage(if you can reach)*ouch* and lock yourself in the toilet for a while.You need to de-stress.
Now lets be bestest friends ever
Do either of you have a bunnie wunnie?
I love you
xxxxx
Just playing with you boys, be nice to me, I am a newbie
Quote: charley rance @ December 16, 2006, 8:20 PM
I have never in all my days been called a Mad Bint!
Really? You surprise me.
"Whats up Karl"
"Am i not entitled to an opinion?"
"Are you this welcoming to all Newbies"
Look Karl, i am not out for a punch up here. I have had 3 whole kick boxing lessons so you realy dont wanna mess with me.
All i was trying to get across is that in my humble (and obviously not allowed opinion), grammer correcting should be left to teachers for pupils. It was fine for it to be mentioned but some of it was a little harsh. I dont want to come across to anyone as a Nut Job or a Mad Bint, and i can take criticism when I have asked for advice. I dont recall asking you for your opinion of me as a person.
I came across this site and thought WoW! A place to visit and get advice and bounce ideas around on my writing/stand up projects. I dont want to be ostricised or asked to leave so i am going to allow you to call me anything you want.
I may be the only fruit in a bowl of nuts, but hey dont do me in for it.
Pleeeeeeeeease lets not fight, all i had was an opinion and got called a "Mad Bint" for it. If you tell me what kind of opinion you would like me to have Karl, i will then endeavour to steer well clear of it.
Ps...Thought this was a forum about comedy Karl...Lighten up! Have a laugh, appreciate my sense of humour and i will yours.xx
Got to agree with Thomps and the others who make a point on grammar and spelling. One of the BIGGEST gripes of all scriptreaders is poor spelling, bad grammar, failure to understand punctuation. It makes their job much harder as they wade through basic typos. If your script is a potential blockbuster but a struggle to read - guess what? - they won't read it. They'll never know that you're the next Alan Bennett or Gervais.
Your stand on grammar is admirable but you're going to tick off the people you need to get on your side, the scriptreader. You have to convince these guys you can WRITE. And you'll never convince them if, five lines into a script, they're putting it in the bin.
As a writer you will always be judged on your output, words. Sloppiness in emails, forum entries, etc, indicate as much about our character as do our words and actions.
As a side note: Oddly, the written word is unique in that it is both; words and action.
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Charlie, don't feel ostracised. It isn't personal (although I can't answer over the 'mad bint' comment, tho i suspect it was a jest).
It's just advice, 'tis all it is. You're welcome to treat the language the way you want but the professionals you need to sway won't be so forgiving and imho it's better to put it into practice before you 'need' to.
Welcome, Charley
I was also very pleased to find this website, and I hope you don't allow the odd bit of misplaced banter to put you off. I've found a lot of great advice on here already.
I also like giving my own tuppence worth, which in this case kind of agrees with the posters who have suggested presentation and grammar are important. Of course they aren't the be-all-and-end-all, but they do affect how people approach your work (whether you like it or not). As a case in point, I haven't even read the rough idea that begins this thread. I tried a few lines and gave up, because I was facing a stream of consciousness rather than sentences. Now, that might be my problem and I might have missed out on some great stuff, but I'm a nobody and even I wasn't prepared to invest the same amount of time in understanding it that I would have if it was presented with a bit more sensitivity to the needs of the reader.
Negative rant over, it really doesn't matter if you want to do stand up and are doing your own stuff. As long as you understand your own lines. But if you are presenting written stuff for review by others, it always helps if it is readable. My advice is that if a writer knows their that their spelling and grammar are a bit cruddy then they should consider asking a friend who is better at these trivial things to add their skills to the comedy genius before submitting elsewhere.
Quote: charley rance @ December 17, 2006, 7:48 PM
All i was trying to get across is that in my humble (and obviously not allowed opinion), grammer correcting should be left to teachers for pupils.
That's a ridiculous argument. You're just passing the buck rather than facing up to an important issue. Whether you like it or not, you could have the greatest script in the world and it won't do you any good if it is riddled with mistakes.
You say that you're on this site for advice and feedback but your response to my initial post suggests otherwise. As SlagA says, scriptreaders hate poor spelling, bad grammar, failure to understand punctuation etc. Stick to your guns and you will get nowhere. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's a fact.
Ultimately, you can take this advice onboard and work on your grammar, spelling etc, or you can ignore it and send your work off regardless. It makes no difference to me, but go for the latter option and I guarantee you that no one will take you seriously.
Hi Guys
I just have to say that i do agree on presentation, as stated in my first thread. However the odd spelling mistake and left out punctuation i know, will not cost you your career or future career.
Obviously a written presentation RIDDLED with many mistakes may. A boring sketch, story, etc will.
I have a friend who is dyslexic and she writes romantic stories for a living.Her imagination out weighs her grammer.
So basicaly all i am sayiing is that fine, pick out the fact that the grammer could use a little work, but dont go on about it(you could ruin a person) After all the proof is in the pudding.
I respect all and every body's opinion on this. Those that agree or disagree. This is just mine.
I dont have the best grammer in the world. I will not allow that to stop me doing what i enjoy and hope to achieve. I dont have time to go to college and learn all over again, and i would not want too.
I am not passing any buck Thomps and i dont quite understand what you mean. I had one rant about the grammer issue and was called a mad bint for it, I retaliated to a personal comment, which i acted on as being in jest the first time, by jestiing back), whined about it after the second)how is that buck passing
It's not a case of trying to ruin someone. It's taking the time to offer some advice.
Anyhoo, you've obviously made your mind up on this issue. I'll just repeat what I said. Stick to your guns re. spelling etc and you will get nowhere. I guarantee it.
Charley, don't think you're being picked on, it isn't the case. We're glad to have your voice to add to the pot. Debate is good. Have you said hello in the introduction group? You can let us know what your projects / ambitions are there. If you have, apologies, and I'll check it out when I have time.
We'll all freely admit that none of us are experts in language / grammar but the forum is a good place to practice and learn for the big event - getting a script in front of a producer.
I'm sure the mad bint was a jest but if it was serious send them to me or one of the other moderators for a slapped wrist. You're lucky you weren't here for the birth, rise, and fall of our internet troll, Chipandale. He was a little more offensive than the bint comment.
Back to the debate at hand (re: riddled with errors). Don't get fiction editors started on the tractable apostrophe.
PS I moved your Bill Hicks post to the general discussion group as it didn't fit in on the critique board.
Thank you SlagA for that. I did not mean to put Bill Hicks in the Critique.
No I dont want any slapped wrists atall. I am not that distressed. *takes 100th tablet*
I am well known for speaking my mind, and the truth is it tickled me the first time. Anyhoo, i am gonna drop the subject now, possibly because i am about to expire. *takes her last distressed breath*
Epitath
She tried so hard but her grammer stank, silly Mad Bint
Having been the first to comment on the original post I am interested to see the debate re spelling, grammar and typos that has followed.
I started to read the post and stopped after the first line or two dismissing it as not worth trying to wade through with the mistakes etc. I then, in a fit of compassion, decided that I would cut the writer a break and go back and persevere with it. I was glad I did as I found a decent idea lurking in there.
Now my point is this:
I'm a decent fair-minded bloke but even I was going to dismiss this because of poor presentation and mistakes all over the place. So ask yourself what a hard-nosed hard-bitten professional scrip reader / synopsis assessor would do if presented with this manuscript. I think the majority of comments in this thread tell us the answer.
Being uncompromising in our approach and belief in our abilities is all well and good but as others have commented, it will narrow down our potential to succeed. Why not at least run what we write through a basic spell-checker and that alone, would have in this case, picked up so many of the mistakes.
Bugger, I get all the way to the bottom and someone's just made my point, re the spell check. Can be useful for grammar too.
I laboured through the initial idea and was irritated by it. I think to summarise, I would rather spend my time writing than I would re reading a post to try and make sense of it. There are plenty of sketches/outlines etc on this site that I've given up on. There was one recently about an interview, this is from memory but the point still stands, there was a piece of dialogue that read 'Well let you know'.. It didn't make sense and was either the punch line or leading up to it. By the time i'd figured out it should have been 'We'll let you know' I'd lost the thread and the sketch did nothing for me.
I would emplore anybody who is looking for advice to re read their post first and make sure it is as easy as possible for the person who is giving up their time to comment.
Regarding Charly's Rants, Charly you say you write as you speak and I would say that's fine for dialogue, which is most of a script in anycase. It's only the bits in between that need to be more formal. Having read your posts, I was really entertained by the way that you write and look forward to reading some of your work.
Quote: Johnny Dee @ December 14, 2006, 8:21 AMI think it depends upon the set up.
Steve, was this a 'personal' response to your 'Sick on your shoulder' piece?
It looked like that series was going to have the guy as house-husband and the wife back at work. But the first episode was before the role-reversal.(Rather like the first episode of The Good Life had Tom still at work)
Incidentally, I liked the dialogue in your piece. As I understand it, you do very well to get Writersroom to read more than ten pages of a script and give any response.
Hi Johnny, yes this was a response to sick on your shoulder. And you're right, of course, about the rest of the episodes being reversed from the first. My gut feeling was to submit a mid series episode but was trying to give them what I thought they were asking for. I'll be less inclined to do that in the future.
One of the other comments was 'the way the head girl gag works itself through the script is verry satisfying'. I guess someone must have read all of it to know the gag appeared in a different form three times.
Steve by any other name...... I think i may love you. Thankyou for your comment. I would quote it however i will be known as fat head Charley if i do.
Lots of very friendly kisses.xxxxxxxxxxxx.Oh & 1 big sluty kiss X
Quote: steve by any other name @ December 18, 2006, 8:27 AM
One of the other comments was 'the way the head girl gag works itself through the script is very satisfying'.
Useful info there. Looks like Writersroom (or one reader therein) likes the old recurring gag.